we're here!

We're here! and pathetically, this is the ONLY picture I've taken the entire time. Jet-Lag is a beast. Miss all my dear Maryland folks... and of course still miss the people we usually miss who are in other parts of the country. We're still getting things organized here, and once things settle down a bit, I swear I'll take and put up more pictures. :)
tchuss!

Dutch Wonderland

Yesterday we had the first day of our 3-day vacation at Dutch Wonderland. The verdict? A hit! With us and the kids. It was so refreshing to have a park where nearly every ride was toddler friendly. I think we went on almost every ride and never waited more than 5 minutes. Excellent.

Cameron did struggle a little bit. The kid was exhausted.

Waiting for the Thomas show to begin.

There was just no point trying to get them to look at the camera when they had Thomas to look at...

Family Gondola ride. Even Andrew got to go on this one.

Andrew's eventful "ride" was the stroller. My growing baby!

Who says this park is just for little kids? (William is hiding on the other side of Nathaniel).

I love seeing my boys so happy.

Seriously, this park was awesome. Very user friendly! We can't wait to visit again when Andrew can be a more active participant.

snugglesaurus

dang. this kid is CUTE.

Occasionally people [fess up that they] are concerned about his little birthmark.
It's just a little stork bite. :)
I had it too when I was born, and so did Cameron (his is still there when he's mad or hot).
It'll fade... and I'll miss it.

Duck

For Memorial day weekend, we had the opportunity to go down to Duck, NC to meet up with Nathaniel's parents, brother, and sister. Not a successful sleep weekend, but in every other aspect, it was awesome. Cameron was our personal alarm clock the last two mornings there-- up well before sunrise to make sure we wouldn't miss it. It actually turned out to be the best time of day to be at the beach anyway!

Can someone tell me who this grown up boy is? It certainly can't be my little Cameron!

Enjoying breakfast with Grandpa and Grandma. Cameron can always be counted on to come and confiscate whatever you're eating. (Thanks Ralph & Julie for organizing the fun trip and beach house!)

Uncle Johnny

These two could be HOLY TERRORS at the beach house, and as soon as they hit the sand with their buckets, they were transformed children--completely enchanted by the endless sand and ocean.

ER

I kid you not, we keep our local ER in business. A week and a bit ago my little Cameron monkey was balancing with his feet on the arm of the couch and his hands on the side of the coffee table. Deciding to do a little dance in this position proved to be problematic as his feet slid off and in between the two pieces of furniture, and his head caught the table on the way down.

Silly monkey. 5 stitches (4 of which fell out before they were supposed to be cut out).

a numbing gel stuck over the wound

posing with a balloon daddy made to pass the time

'papoose'

finishing up the job. he did pretty darn well!

my articulate little men:

BEST Day

Poppy and Grammy were here for the past couple days. My boys adored them right away (and asked about them first thing this morning. They're sure going to miss them!). Yesterday we thought there would be rain and planned an inside activity going to the Science Center in Baltimore.
It was awesome. Cameron apparently has a real love for dinosaurs, or "abetores" as he calls them (Grammy had to figure that one out). He was giddy! It was hilarious. I'll try to get up some videos from the day later. The boys were a little tired, but pretty good all day! Andrew was an angel, and slept in the sling most of the time. I love my little boys!

Cameron checking out an 'abetore' nest.

Next up after dinosaurs were: blue crab, turtles and how cars work-- mild response from the boys. Then we reached the kid room. Holy smokes, this place was great. I think we played at this water table for a full 45 minutes.

Cameron and Poppy fishing

After lunch at the Science Center we took a walk along the harbor and then came upon this gem. Good thing Grammy had suggested bringing an extra set of clothes for the boys! They were so funny running around in there that they drew their own crowd of on-lookers who laughed every time the boys did. So. Much. Fun. I wanted to run in there with them. Next time I'll have to bring Mommy a change of clothes too.

To make the day completely perfect, we stopped for ice cream at Ben & Jerry's before heading home.

Poppy and Andrew

After all the kid fun, the whole lot of us had naps then N and I went out on a date! Awesome. We'll miss you Poppy & Grammy!

weekend recap

Yesterday Grammy & Poppy came to visit! We're excited to spend the day with them today too.

Playing with neighbors (will post more pics from that later). This kid LOVES strawberries.

*caught*! I've determined that Cameron simply cannot stand a tidy house. Anytime I get really going with cleaning the house, as soon as I finish one room and move on to another he steps in to undo my apparent damage.

Ya know.. just chillin' in a shoe basket with his 'waash-wight'. The best $3 toy I've ever bought.

On Saturday we had our front porch railings replaced as they had rotted through and looked disgusting! The boys were thoroughly entertained watching the demolition of the old yuck, and installation of the new beautiful porch. :)

puddle jumper

My big boy!

The other night I was done for the day, so I kept trying to make the kids done too and shove them off to bed. Poor William, it was only 6pm! So I finally decided that what we both needed was to get out of the house tromp in the rain. My flip flops turned out to be not the best 'tromping' shoes, and I slipped and sliced the top of my toe. oops. Time to invest in some snazzy rain boots for myself, maybe, since the boys already have 2 pairs each!

William has been changing and growing up A LOT these past few weeks. His communication and thought processing developments have just been astonishing. Cameron has also been up and coming in his communication too. He's more advanced than William was at his age (probably thanks to William), but it's been helpful for both Cameron and us! Thanks to that improving ability to talk to each other, my two big boys have really become friends lately. A couple mornings ago I woke up my Cameron 'alarm clock' crying for a minute. As I was struggling to pull myself out of bed I heard Cameron's crying stop... then he paused... then he started saying "Wee-yum! Wee-yum?!" Sooo cute. But also so not cute because I didn't want him to wake dear wee-yum up. haha. The questions that William will ask Cameron are so funny. He'll say "Cameron, are you hungry? Are your tired? You want some chicken? Yah.. I'm just cookin' some chicken for dinner." Oh, it makes me laugh. These are the good things about having kids. I just needed to document it, so when I'm in the midst of the not-so-good-things, I'll have a happy thought. :)

When they're next to each other William towers over sweet, monkey Cameron (though in this picture C is slouched a bit too). But I guess when they're standing apart its not as noticeable because I've had two people this week ask me if they're twins!